In 1829, the Lord instructed Martin Harris to pray in a variety of settings:
Pray vocally as well as in thy heart; yea, before the world as well as in secret, in public as well as in private.
Doctrine and Covenants 19:28
This calls to mind Amulek’s list, inspired by the prophet Zenos, of where, when, and how we should pray, and what we should pray for:
- Where: in our fields, houses, closets, secret places, and wilderness
- When: morning, mid-day, and evening
- How: humbly, continually, with a full heart, with charity
- What for: mercy, our household, against the power of our enemies, our crops, our flocks, our welfare, and the welfare of those around us
(See Alma 34:18-28, Alma 33:4-11.)
I don’t think this list is meant to be exhaustive. I think it’s intended to give us a sense of the breadth of possibilities for communicating with God in our lives.
One form of prayer that I’m particularly focused on this week is vocal, personal prayer. My usual practice is to pray aloud when I’m with a group but to pray silently when I’m alone. But Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has encouraged us to pray out loud whenever possible, even when we’re alone:
Our prayers ought to be vocal when we have the privacy to so offer them. If that is not practical, they should be carried as silent utterances in our heart.
“Motions of a Hidden Fire,” General Conference, April 2024
And in 2020, Elder Holland emphasized vocal prayer in a brief video about how he hears the voice of the Savior. Here’s a transcript of that video:
One of the great lessons I have learned about prayer is the power that comes in praying out loud. For me, there is something about saying the words. It is one of the most meaningful ways that I have found to really reach through to heaven and hear the Lord’s voice.
We need to carve out time—good time, high priority time—when we can kneel, if possible, and be vocal. Say the words. I believe that this process is basic to how God communicates with us and how He intends for us to communicate with Him.
How I Hear Him: Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
As I’ve thought about this counsel, I’ve thought of the following scriptures:
- “I cried unto the Lord with my voice; with my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication” (Psalm 142:1).
- “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice” (Psalm 55:17).
- “I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens” (Enos 1:4).
- “It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally” (Joseph Smith—History 1:14).
Today, I will pray out loud. I will find time when I can be alone and can really talk with God. I will remember that there is power and connection in the process of actually saying the words instead of merely thinking them.